WO2007/039567 proposes a motor vehicle system comprising a navigation system and a motor control appliance. In one embodiment of this system an ECU is controlled to change the exhaust emission based on location, setting the lowest exhaust emissions, at the expense of power, when it is determined that the vehicle is in an urban area, then changing the settings outside an urban area. In another embodiment, the vehicle is a hybrid and, in response to information from the navigation system, the ECU can select the electric motor as the only source in an urban area, the IC engine as the only source in a non-urban area and both power sources in a mountainous area.
However, this type of control is not particularly sophisticated and may be considered unsuitable in particular in luxury/performance automobiles, in which drivers are considered more likely to wish to override the system and have full power available at any time. Moreover it is crude in terms of control, switching only in response to two or three broad categories of surroundings and not taking anticipating future situations.
Also known are automatic braking systems which cause an automobile to brake in response to an input from a sensor.
So called “regeneration” systems are also well known, in which rather than using friction brakes, the speed of a hybrid or electric vehicle is reduced whilst regenerating energy, essentially by using a motor as a generator.
It is an object of embodiments of this invention to provide an improved method of automobile control, as well as an improved system for carrying out the method and an automobile incorporating such a system.